Thread: Winchester Rifle thoughts?

....and remember that the concept of a bolt action is "old technology" - you lift the bolt, pull it back, push it forward & down: it's not supposed to be complicated...

I have a mod 70 in 458 win mag. Amazing rifle, just feels like it’s built proper and strong. Iron sights on it are pretty good too. Shot my first deer with a mod 70 in 270 so safe to say I have a soft spot for them. In saying that I own an older tikka and have two new ones on order/in the pipeline. If you want a solid, no bullshit, utilitarian and beautifully functioning rifle.... get the Winny.

Great guns. I bought my Extreme Weather off the forum here, in .270 and restocked it in carbon fibre. The boys are right- the original stock is heavy due to the internal alum chassis. It also has an awkward wrist angle.

I must say though that the Winchesters can be a little fussy compared to the Tikkas when it comes to finding a load it likes (using boat-tails). Much less fussy with flat base bullets - especially the Winchester silverbox stuff. This is my experience with this rifle, a 7RemMag Classic Stainless and the 4x pre64's in 30/06 & .270 I've had.

Where these beat a lot of rifles is the slickness of the action- they feed better than any bolt rifle I've owned- to the point where sometimes I've had to check that I've actually fed a round into the chamber- sooo slick. They also take 5x rounds in the mag.

I guess "fussy" is a personal thing...as I said mine will poke any load into 1"ish group at 100yards and will poke ALL loads into a playing card sized group. we tried it with (from memory) 110hornady hp reload 3 different 130grn reloads 2 factory 130s 2 factory 150s and a factory 160. I still use 130s 140s for most of its work and quite happily chuck a 150 partition or 170grn speer up her spout if in the bush.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

I guess "fussy" is a personal thing...as I said mine will poke any load into 1"ish group at 100yards and will poke ALL loads into a playing card sized group. we tried it with (from memory) 110hornady hp reload 3 different 130grn reloads 2 factory 130s 2 factory 150s and a factory 160. I still use 130s 140s for most of its work and quite happily chuck a 150 partition or 170grn speer up her spout if in the bush.

Yep definitely personal. New rifles (and a few oldies) are usually capable of sub-moa 3-shot groups with a bit of re-load tuning. It just typically takes me longer to get those groups out of the Winnys when the pills are boat-tails.

My featherweight .30/06 will not shoot anything bigger than a 1 inch group. I have tried. Every load I have made for it from 220 grain bullets to low powered loads with .30-30 projectiles will make a neat triangle measuring an inch.
This one is bedded with just the old dribble of glue in the right spot, the way they used to do from the factory, but the above poster is right, you have trouble getting it out of the stock which is a good thing, and the results show they did it right.

Never failed in any way, and feeding is a dream. Most reliable rifle ever. I would like to get a new model that has the old pre'64 type action, but that's just from snob value really. But I do love the featherweight stock, it fits very well.

My Tikka sucked by comparison, and the Sako's shot no better apart from my .222, and cost five times as much. I really have no use for another rifle except for my interest in vintage rifles and trying new cartridges.

I am not sure where the 'new' technology is on a Tikka, unless it is the plastic. The Tikka action is purpose designed by Berretta with simplifications for making manufacturing cheaper.

I did a review on the Winchester Extreme Weather rifle a few years back I will have to look it up. I recall it shot well, but it was also heavier than a Tikka.